Andrew Lloyd Webber, Giorgio Moroder Sign Open Letter to Record Labels to ‘Pay Songwriters’ a More Fair Share

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOver the past pandemic-stricken year, multiple charities and assistance programs have stepped forward for segments of the music industry, from MusiCares to Save Our Stages and Crew Nation.With the backing of Songwriters of North America (SONA), the Songwriter Fund offering emergency grants to songwriters in need has distributed over $400,000 in grants to songwriters who have been hardest hit by the pandemic — and is accepting donations for another round of relief

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s not often that you’ve got Homer’s Odyssey and “Grey’s Anatomy” combined for the theme of a music video, but it happens in the clip for “Kiss Me More,” the new collaborative single from Doja Cat and SZA.The song, crafted by Travis Scott collaborator Roger TK and Doja’s team of Yeti Beats, TK and of course Dr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn his capacity as founder of the Revolt network, Sean “Diddy” Combs slammed General Motors for disrespecting Black-owned media brands in an open letter published Thursday, calling for more financial support in advertising and other spending.The move follows the placement of a full-page ad in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press, in which the leaders of Black-owned media companies — including Byron Allen and Ice Cube — accused GM CEO Mary Barra of racism for refusing to meet

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSixty-four years ago, as Elvis Presley’s career reached its supernova stage, the 21-year-old singer’s team hit on a strategy that enabled him to profit from songwriting without actually writing songs.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Fire in Little Africa,” an album of original material, written and recorded by a collective of Oklahoma hip-hop artists to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, will be released on May 28 by Motown Records/Black Forum in partnership with Tulsa’s Bob Dylan Center and Woody Guthrie Center.According to the announcement, the 21-track album “gets to the truth of what happened on May 31 and June 1, 1921 when a white mob descended on the streets of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPatti Smith — singer, songwriter, poet, author and icon — will be sharing her writing in a new weekly newsletter on Substack.In a message posted Wednesday on her highly entertaining Instagram page, Smith wrote that she aims to use the newsletter to “form an inter-connective body of work for a responsive community,” posting “weekly ruminations, shards of poetry, music, and musings on whatever subject finds its way from thought to pen, news of the mind, pieces of this

Dua Lipa‘s ‘New Rules’ and Ariana Grande‘s ‘7 Rings’ claims that a “growing number” of artists have asked for a share of publishing royalties – even if they didn’t write the song.The letter explains that “artists will go on to collect revenue from touring, merchandise [and] brand partnerships” but “songwriters have only their publishing revenue as a means of income”.While no artists were specifically named in the letter, the signees added that composers often faced “bully tactics and threats”

Songwriters behind some of pop's biggest hits have penned an open letter calling for stars to stop taking writing credits for songs they didn't write, according to Variety. The letter, organized by advocacy group The Pact, claims a "growing number of artists" demand publishing royalties for songs they had not contributed to, with some artists and executives using "bully tactics and threats" to get it.

Halle Berry, Brie Larson and Selena Gomez are just three of the big names on an open letter of love to the transgender community, in honor of Women’s History Month and Transgender Day of Visibility.

Halle Berry, Selena Gomez, Gabrielle Union and more are sending their support to trans women and girls. The stars are among over 440 signatories of an open letter supporting the community, in observance of Women’s History Month and Transgender Day of Visibility.

Halle Berry,Selena Gomez, Gabrielle Union and more are sending their support to trans women and girls.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter a few weeks of rumors and a pair of anonymous social-media posts, a group of top-level songwriters calling themselves the Pact went above ground on Tuesday with a letter calling for an end to the one of the longest-running open secrets of the music industry: the practice of artists demanding credit and publishing for songs they did not write.Although the initial signatories did not name names of offending artists, the list includes cowriters of songs by such

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree days after an anonymous songwriters group named the Pact called for artists to stop demanding credit for songs they did not write, the group has followed with a letter signed by Emily Warren, Ross Golan, Justin Tranter, Victoria Monet and others pledging that the signatories “will not give publishing or songwriting credit to an artist who did not create or change the lyric or melody or otherwise contribute to the composition without a reasonably

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere’s no question that the Verzuz musical battles — which find one artist or producer pitting their hits against another’s, in (mostly) friendly competition — have captured the imaginations of millions of online viewers since hitmakers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launched the series last March. The series has seen veteran rapper Snoop Dogg go up against contemporary DMX, legendary soul singers Patti Labelle vs.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the music-publishing market continues to heat up to unprecedented levels, songwriter groups have begun speaking out. On the heels of a petition launched in the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey testifying before the House Energy & Commerce Committee this afternoon, the RIAA, the National Music Publishers Association, the American Association of Independent Music, Songwriters of North America and the Music Artists Coalition have jointly penned a letter to committee leadership detailing how Twitter has “failed to meet the basic standards of moderation when it comes to the rampant theft of creative works on its platform,”

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMarch 24 marks the 15th anniversary of the debut of “Hannah Montana” on Disney Channel, which was the show that introduced singer-songwriter and icon Miley Cyrus to the world.

The letter was posted on Miley’s Instagram, and Hannah had a response that we’ll spare you the click for: “Nice to hear from you @MileyCyrus. It’s only been a decade.”Hi Hannah,It’s been a while.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety“…With the West End set to reopen in May, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella” musical, with a book by freshly minted Oscar nominee Emerald Fennell, is back in rehearsals. “We just had our first run-through for Emerald,” Lloyd Webber tells me.